Home 3D Art Showcase & Critiques

Looking for Portfolio Feedback

Hi polycounters!

I'm here humbly asking for some feedback on the layout of my portfolio website (which I just published recently). I don't own a tablet and my smartphone recently died on me, so if you can preview the site on handheld devices and see an issue, that would be especially helpful.

Feel free to comment on the content as well, but know that I'm fully aware that I have a long road ahead of me to reach professional quality!

The site is undergoing constant iterations at this point in time, but I figure it's far enough along to get some solid feedback.

A little background on me:

I'm in school for Game Development. Although I've completed the three required years of my program, I have to go back for a couple credits I missed to get my full diploma. Basically, I'm just on the edge of graduation.

I'm located in Canada and want to become a 3d generalist (for a small studio) or a technical artist (for a larger studio). I am interested most in scripting and shader development, but have been officially trained in 2D and 3D game art as well as rigging, scripting and several game engines.

TL;DR The link!

[Edit]: I am aware of the 'grey box issue' in the galleries. I've contacted my domain host and they've assured me they're fixing it ASAP.

Replies

  • DWalker
    Unless you're an animator or f/x artist, use still images rather than videos. Still images offer the opportunity for more detailed study in a shorter period of time.

    The thumbnail for the shaders is far too busy. I understand what you were trying to do, but it just comes off as a jumble partially obscuring the title. Perhaps subduing the image would work...

    There really isn't a whole lot to the shaders. For non-photorealistic shaders, push yourself to create a specific effect. They don't even have to be complex - simple sepia shaders, TV renders, and toon shaders have all been used in a variety of games. From an artistic standpoint, I've been rather fond of the pen & ink shaders:
    ATI-9700-NPRHatching-Demo-vLG.jpg
  • Wingednosering
    Thanks for the feedback! I actually have a massive shader library, I just haven't gotten it all up there yet. Most of what's there is actually post process, so that's my bad for creating a bit of a misnomer.

    I've got toon-shading, oren nayar, water (fairly high end), cook torrance, holographic projection shaders, etc, etc.

    Sepia and such are good ideas though.
  • Qdwach
    Offline / Send Message
    Qdwach polycounter lvl 7
    Hey dude, firstly I apologise if this comes of as blunt, that's just my writing style I'm affraid. Good effort creating your own site, here's a few issues I found when going through your site:

    First and most glaring thins is when hovering over the left/right next buttons this happens:
    GgbgvGj.jpg
    Half of the image gets obscured, this happens on all your images.

    Lighthouse Environment title overlaps one of the images
    WImCd9m.png

    Also on the shader page, another overlapping title:
    x8Jt0eH.png

    Lastly if you include the option to print your website make sure it works:
    of1GCAd.png

    The image you chose as the icon for Environment section on home page isn't very flattering, it looks like you cropped one of the screenshots then stretched it out way too big.

    The image you chose as the icon for your shaders isn't the best either, way too busy.

    There are no contact details visible anywhere, I couldn't find an email address in the 5 minutes I looked through your folio, and that's usually how long recruiters will spend looking at it if not less.

    You should replace your character turntables with renders, big renders with night light setups where I can see all the deets and texture breakdowns. right now they are tiny, short youtube videos, Bowser isn't even in HD.

    It's useful to have a short paragraph for each one of your project giving some details about it.
    Also your site should probably have a title, Home doesn't really cut it imho.
    Smaller things: Include a Resume, if you have a logo, don't half-arse it, do you really need ALL the social features(facebook?!), replace that contact form with contact details.

    Deets:
    Res 1920 x 1080
    Browser: Chrome(latest)
    OS: W7

    Hope this helps a bit.
  • Wingednosering
    Thanks, the big grey box issue is already being dealt with (apparently the company that runs the web builder is rolling out an update).

    Contact details are certainly there under the contact link, as is a resume.

    I'm not sure what's causing some of the text to appear in two lines, because it's one line on every system I've checked. That's really strange...I'll see if I can figure it out.

    I'll remove the print option.

    [Edit]: Made the following changes:

    -Ive lengthened the horizontal text cutoff for the offending titles, hopefully that fixes that issue
    -The resume link has been made a brighter box to make it clear it's clickable, it also reads 'download resume' instead of 'resume'
    -I've made my email address bold on the contact page to make it stand out more
    -Print option removed


    Thank you for the layout feedback, it's most invaluable.
  • BradMyers82
    Offline / Send Message
    BradMyers82 interpolator
    One problem you are running into is that you don't really have focus on the site. Its just sorta one of these, one of those, and some shader stuff.
    The reason this relates to the design of your website is home pages are generally frowned upon. Most people want to see whatever you have with as few clicks possible and in the most organized fashion possible.
    I can see why you have the home page, to link to the different categories, but in terms of getting a job, you really need to focus on one and excel at it. Also as DWalker pointed out, seeing videos these days often comes off as amateurish. Its cool to make them, but not a ideal way to show your work.

    So its just a little bit of a chicken and egg scenario. You will want to change your website as your body of work grows and develops. That said, I think your off to a great start. The best thing about your work is I can see a very creative side. The picture leading to the next scene in the video and the anatomical study of Bowser is really cool! Keep at it and decide quickly if you want to be a character guy or environment guy.
  • Wingednosering
    Thanks for adding some positives in there :). One problem you run into asking for feedback is an inevitable negative leaning in responses.

    I had no idea videos were amateurish. I kept presenting my work as stills and my teachers kept telling me to do turntables. Guess I'll switch it back (for non-environments).

    I've added more shader work too, as DWalker suggested. Next up, I'll fix the shader and environment tabs on the home page.

    I had a feeling it was an issue having just one organic character. Ideally I want to be a technical artist or environment artist, but I'm in Toronto, where there are a lot of indie devs and I thought showing I can do a little bit of everything would make me seem more useful to smaller companies.

    I'll have to give that some thought.
Sign In or Register to comment.